Epilogue

Two weeks later.

Ed put his head in the door of Greg's office as Greg motioned to him that he was about to finish his call. "No, I couldn't agree with you more General. Yes sir. I appreciate that. Thank you. Goodbye."

Ed arched an eyebrow. "Sam's father?"

Greg nodded. "Seems we have a new ally!" He held out a piece of paper. Ed stepped forward and took it as Greg rounded his desk.

"Sam got the all clear? Already?" Ed asked in amazement. "You've got to be kidding me?" Greg shrugged helplessly as the two men headed towards the gym. "I suppose the General wasn't happy about it."

"No but that wasn't what he was calling about!"

Ed was surprised. "Really!"

"Apparently, he saw the news reports and let's just say he was non too pleased at the invasive nature of Channel 24 News."

Ed grimaced. "Veronica?"

"It seems that Mrs Braddock was horrified at seeing us perform CPR on their only son on live television. He was calling to thank us for our swift actions in saving his son's life … AND to let me know that he has lodged formal complaints with the news channel, the broadcasting regulatory body and the union of journalists. " Greg smirked happily. "Let's just say I have a feeling Ms Pelham is going to be looking for a new job!"

"Awesome!"

"What's awesome?" Spike asked at Ed and the Sarge entered the gym.

Ed waved the paper. "Sam's cleared for work – light duties - and the General has pulled some clout and got Veronica Pelham off our backs."

Wordy and Lou paused their training. "He got her fired?" they asked.

"Good! Serves her right! Stupid bitch!" Donna spat. "Did they really certify Sam to come back already?"

"Damn right!"

The team spun round as a familiar voice made itself known. Leaning nonchalantly against the door-frame with his jacket dangling from one finger, Sam grinned back at his colleagues. For a man who had been, to all intents and purposes, dead two weeks previously, he looked pretty good bar the nasty scar along his hairline.

Spike hopped up and ran over to his friend to pull him into a hug. "Samtastic!" He looked him up and down. "Looking smart. That a new shirt?" Sam grinned.

Ed shook his head in disbelief as he waved the medical report. "Er … Sam, this says Monday!" He studied the young man carefully. Although the scar along his hairline was still clearly visible and Ed was pretty sure that his shoulder was still strapped up, he had to admit the kid looked to be in peak health. Unbelievable!

"Yeah, I know I just wanted to check in with you guys and er ..." He blushed slightly as he looked around at his team. "... and say thank you, officially for pulling me out of there ..." Ed and Wordy nodded their acknowledgement. "... and er … the rest." The Sarge flipped him a little salute as Spike slung a arm around his shoulders with a big grin.

"Yeah, just don't ask me to kiss you ever again!" Spike joked as Sam blushed a deep red. "Seriously though, how did you get them to sign you off?"

Sam shrugged. "Maybe, I'm just a great negotiator!" The others all laughed much to Sam's mortification. He nodded at Greg. "I learnt from the best!" Greg blushed with pleasure at the compliment.

"Hey look who's on TV," Donna called. "Lou, turn the sound up!" She nodded at the screen in the corner of the gym. The team stopped to look at the screen where Sean Peters was standing outside the police headquarters.

" ...and I can confirm that the chief executive officer and four members of the board of directors have been arrested on charges of fraud, corruption and gross misconduct. The officer in charge of the investigation will be announcing more arrests later today including at least two men who we believe to be high-ranking officials at city hall. This far-reaching investigation has all come about after the dramatic events of two weeks ago where a group of family members of harbour management employees took over the organisation's headquarters in order to bring this to public attention. The five men are appearing in court this morning on a variety of charges including gun offences, hostage-taking and intent to cause criminal damage but charges for attempted murder of an SRU officer have been dropped. It seems that the officer who miraculously survived the explosion will not be pressing charges against the men..."

The members of Team One with the exception of the Sarge seemed surprised by the announcement. "Sam, are you serious?" asked Ed.

Sam nodded thoughtfully. "Yeah, they're going to plead guilty to the other charges. They're going to do time. Me adding to it wasn't going to help. I don't think they meant to hurt anyone."

Ed's stance clearly showed he wasn't happy and Spike huffed loudly unconvinced that anyone who illegally procured explosives didn't intend to hurt anyone. However, his attention was caught by the TV screen that had returned to a now smiling anchorman in the news studio. Oddly, Sam's official SRU portrait appeared in the corner of the screen.

"Well, it seems that the officer involved in that incredible escape is no stranger to dramatic falls. In fact earlier that same day he got himself involved in another dramatic rescue of a rather different kind as this amateur footage shows ..."

The team stared at the TV in fascination as the image changed to a suburban street and three children stood staring up at a tree. Two boys aged around seven and nine stood with their arms wrapped around a younger girl who was crying her eyes out as a clearly recognizable figure began to climb the tree.

"Oh no!" Sam buried his face in his hand scarcely able to believe that someone had caught it on film. He opened an eye to peer through his fingers watching himself climb. The image wobbled as it zoomed in to show the object of his climb, a large hissing mass of white and ginger fur. As his screen self approached the branch where the cat was stuck he reached out an arm. Sam winced knowing what was coming next but the rest of the team cringed in horror as four paws full of claws struck out and man and cat tumbled backwards inelegantly bouncing from branch to branch before landing in the bushes at the bottom of the tree. Fortunately for Sam the amateur cameraman was more interested in the well-being of the cat who was shown stalking away into the arms of his young mistress looking for all the world as though he had no idea what the fuss was about.

"That had got to hurt," the television anchorman supplied helpfully trying not to laugh as the image cut to a picture of a now smiling little girl with the overweight feline in her arms.

She stared out of the screen with big round eyes. "He rescued Fluffy. He's my hero!" she announced solemnly. This initiated guffaws of laughter in the workout room. Sam sank onto the nearest bench and buried his burning face in his arms.

Spike dropped to a knee and declared in exaggerated falsetto. "My hero!" which earned him a couple of muffled expletives from the now thoroughly embarrassed Sam.

Lou tried to stem the tears of laughter. "Man, that could have been a real … cat-astrosphe!"

Greg patted Sam on the shoulder. "Yeah I'm surprised you were … feline .. up to anything after that."

Sam groaned. "I'm never going to live this down, am I?"

Wordy sniggered as he joined in the fun. "Well the cat's out of the bag now!"

Ed laughed. "Don't worry Sam! We'll only … milk … this for all it's worth."

Just when Sam thought that things couldn't get any worse, they did.

"Well folks there you have it. One of the real life heroes of our fine city and if you would like to see … MORE … of him and eleven other of our brave first responders then I'm happy to tell you that it's that time of year again when the handsome young men of our police, fire and medical services bare all for a good cause! Yes, the First Responders Charity Calendar is now available. This year proceeds from the sale of the calendar will go to the children's wards at the city's hospitals and to children's hospice so make sure you get your copy. And here's a taster of what you can expect ..."

Sam didn't dare look up as the barn resonated with whoops, cat-calls and an impromptu round of applause.

"Whoa! That's impressive!"

"Looking good Sammy!"

"Nice!"

A cheer from outside the gym drew their attention. "We owe you Braddock! The next round at the Goose is on us!" Sam looked up to see Team Three heading out. He gave them the thumbs up. His own team were grinning at him, Donna in particular.

"So that was the MUI?" she muttered, a large grin on her face. "I've gotta say Sam. That is one … strategically positioned ballistic shield!" She got up to move to another piece of equipment but not before whispering in his ear, "Cute butt!"

.

Across the city Jules was in the kitchen making coffee for her friends who were sitting on her couch admiring Becca's latest fashion statements. "Ooo ... isn't that your friend Sam?" Carmen giggled. Jules glanced at the TV screen. Her jaw dropped at the sight of Sam grinning cheekily at her as he leaned seductively on a ballistic shield. She blinked scarcely able to believe her eyes. "That is so … sexy!"

Becca giggled. "Oh got to get me one of those!" It wasn't clear whether she was referring to the calendar. "You didn't tell us he is so hot!"

"You're telling me! Hey Jules, he single?" Jules' eyes shot daggers at her friend's back. "Can I get his phone number?"

"Or better yet Jules could introduce us."

"He's spoken for!" Jules rammed the coffee pot into the machine with a vengeance. "I'm gonna kill him!" she muttered under her breath as, at the back of her mind, a tiny part of her brain confessed that as soon as Carmen and Becca were gone, she was going to go out and get herself her own personal copy of the calendar. After all, it was for charity.

.

Sam had to put up with another five minutes of awful cat jokes before he was saved. Carl Brunetti sauntered into the barn looking as smart as Sam in neatly pressed pants and button-down shirt. "There you are! The Man of the Moment!" he called as he spotted Sam and waved a greeting to the rest of Team One. "Come on Mr Superhero. Time to meet your adoring fans!"

Ed and the team paused to look at them in surprise. "Er, what's that Sam? Where are you guys off to?"

Sam gave a small secretive smile. "Launch party!"

Spike frowned. "Huh?"

Sam joined his friend. "You know … for the calendar. It's a charity event organized by the mayor. Publicity shots, meet and greet the rich and famous..."

Carl threw an arm round Sam's shoulder as they swaggered out of the door. "Free food!"

"Free drinks!"

"Gorgeous women!"

"They sending a car for us?"

"Yeah, a limo!"

"Nice!" Sam turned back to bestow his cockiest grin on his colleagues who were staring at him in amazement. "I'll give the mayor your regards. Have a great weekend guys! See you Monday!"

For once Team One were rendered speechless. Unbelievable!

.

THE END!

Thank you for reading. I hope you enjoyed it.

Mahala xx